Contents

Life

Born Marjorie Jean Maude Wright in Dubbo, New South Wales, Lee was
the daughter of a railway worker. She had an unremarkable childhood
in rural New South Wales and later in suburban Sydney and was
remembered as an intelligent, popular student at her Roman Catholic
school, although she was inclined to be rebellious on occasion.[1]
She married in 1938 and the following year gave birth to a
daughter. After several years, her husband abandoned her and their
child, and Lee gave her daughter to her mother to raise. After
Lee's mother successfully sought legal custody of Lee's daughter,
Lee moved to Melbourne
where she became involved in petty crime.

She met Robert David Clayton, who had some criminal convictions,
and their relationship soon became abusive and Lee was subjected to
violence. She began to work as a prostitute.

The couple found a method to extort money from unsuspecting men, and later
called it "The Badger Game". Lee would lure a man into
a sexually compromising position, and Clayton would burst into the
room, and surprise them. Clayton played the part of the outraged
husband, and blackmailed
the other man into giving him money in return for his silence. As
many of the men were supposedly respectable married men, they would
often give Clayton money, rather than risk him telling their wives.
if on occasion, the man would refuse and Clayton would then beat
and rob him.

The couple were later joined by Norman Andrews, another criminal
that Clayton had first met while in prison.

The
Murder

In 1949, the trio targeted an elderly man, William "Pop " Kent,
Kent was an SP
Bookie. Kent invited the trio to have a drink at his flat - 6 pm closing
time was law in Victoria. They
had heard that he kept money in his home, and thought Kent would be
a soft target. While Lee kept Kent busy by performing oral sex, the two men would
search the flat for money. The trio later gave conflicting
statements to Police [2]
but what is known Kent was tied to a chair, by Lee[3], and
over a period of hours all three kicked and beat him, while
demanding to know where his money was kept, they took his money
roll he had in his pocket but wanted more. Kent was at first
defiant, but eventually insisted that he had no extra money. He was
tortured then stabbed several times, before Andrews strangled him.
Neighbours heard Kent's screams and called police, but by the time
they arrived, Lee, Clayton and Andrews were gone, and Kent was
dead. Kent was found under a pile of sheets and clothing, his
furniture had been broken and his home had been ransacked. A later
report claimed that Kent's penis had been cut off and stuffed down
his throat. [4]

The three were soon apprehended in a hotel room, still wearing
blood-stained clothing. Lee and Clayton had more blood on their
clothes than Andrews and Lee had a abrasion on her nose.[2]
Lee confessed to the crime and in an effort to save her lover,
claimed that she had acted alone and that he had no knowledge of
the events. All three were charged with murder but by the time their trial began on 20
March 1950, they had turned on each other, with each person
attempting to shift blame onto the other two. Lee was charged under
the principle of "common purpose" which meant that although it was
accepted that she had neither stabbed nor strangled Kent, she had
played an active role in his death and was therefore equally
culpable. The three were found guilty and sentenced to death. Lee
became hysterical as she heard the sentence.

On 23 June 1950, the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that their
confessions had been improperly obtained and ordered a retrial, but
this was overturned by the High Court and the verdicts and
sentences were confirmed. Lee's mental state declined after this,
and she alternated between violently attacking her prison guards
and begging for mercy, while stating repeatedly that she was
innocent and that they have never meant to kill anyone.

Lee also commented that she did not believe a woman would be
hanged. As the date for her execution drew near, Lee grew
increasingly erratic.

Execution

On February 19, 1951 , the morning of her execution, she became
hysterical and had to be sedated. She fainted when the executioner
came to her cell, and she was strapped semi-conscious to a chair.
She was executed at 8:00 a.m. At 10:00 a.m. her accomplices Robert
Clayton 32 , and Norman Andrews 38, were also hanged. Clayton's
last words were Goodbye Charlie and Andrews's last words
Goodbye Robert. [5]

Jean Lee was one of two women executed in Australia during the
20th century, the other being Martha Rendell, who was hanged for
murdering her de facto husband's children in 1909.[6]